McDoubles

Royale with cheese

For those of us who started skating in the 1980s there’s shit being done now that of course seems unfathomable in retrospect, for instance, switch 360 flipping double-sets, 360 flip noseblunts, nose tattoos and so on. Then there’s a whole other world of tricks that are the type of thing that theoretically were within the realm of possibility, but so out of hand as to be restricted to idle speculation during recess or in the wee hours of a sleepover after the third watch of “Public Domain,” and it is into this category that this sequence from the new TSM falls: Tony Hawk blasting a quarter century’s worth of contest-honed McTwisting over Aaron “No” Homoki’s parlour trick somewhere in Australia. It’s very possible this same pairing went down in some X-Fest or another, and I missed it because I never think to watch that sorta thing, but I really did set down the magazine and ponder this one for a minute when I saw it.

The Nieratko-penned article on this trip is a generally good one by the way – brief and BB-tinged, it’s telling of the way things are reshaping at the ‘house that Hawk built. For one, there’s an amusing and unapologetic Shawn White diss, and much is made of the fact that the Birdman was in the van* as opposed to sipping Chardonnay on his Lear jet or whatever on their city-to-city jaunts. Plus, the dude skated street with the bros (who included his son of course) and threw down his personal plastic when more juice was required to keep the distillates flowing. Who can say whether the B-House corporate account remains solvent. Perhaps Willy Santos, who also has a Birdhouse ad this month. No shit, Willy Santos. Either way, as far as the article goes, we can assume that none of this, including Nieratko’s invitation, happened by accident, but it’s nice to see nevertheless because Birdhouse continues to be home to some genuinely dirty/dedicated dudes and there’s some effort being put in over there to have a say in the way things are right now. It’s a long way for them to go of course, but I’m curious to see how far Tony Hawk is willing to push to get his shit back on track.

7 Responses to “McDoubles”

I saw them at my local park in Melbourne. obviously the main focus of the demo was on the vert ramp. I rolled over and skated the street course and had a chat with Willy Santos, he is a seriously nice person and seemed very down to earth.

The rest of the team though were like bad 2nd generation vhs copies of each other.

Tony Hawk is the richest skate rat in history. I am convinced that he may be one of the only people to be completely unaffected by his successes. There’s a scene in his part in “The End” where he squeezes his helmet and sweat just pours out, just raw. However, it is weird what has happened at Birdhouse.

Birdhouse was THE shit after “The End,” but everyone bolted. And every time they got some new riders (Barley, Westgate, Suski, Shetler), those guys bolted for greener pa$ture$. But I think more than anything, their lack of direction as a company is their problem. These same concerns were voiced by Sean Eaton in an interview in TSM, in which he stated that riding for Birdhouse for close to six years was nothing more than a waste of his time. And while that may be true, it cuts both ways, because while I have seen footage of Sean Eaton, it’s nothing too fantastic.

Sure he was hurt for almost an entire year with a bum knee and had to resort to delivering pizzas and playing Texas Hold ‘Em poker in casinos to survive, but why would any company try to push a skater onto the skateboarding populace if he’s not absolutely ripping? Regardless of what company a guy skates for, you can’t deny talent. And that talent will most likely bring all the attention necessary from the skate media.

Skating seems to be one of the only professions/sports that you can become rich in and not stick your head up your butt. Every skater I know that has money is totally chill and down to earth. They are family guys who just feel lucky to do what they love for money. I wish I was good enough to get paid!